Japanese Laid-Open Pat. No. 61-203581 discloses a structure in which first and second connector housings are fitted and separated from each other by a small force by using a cam mechanism. The cam mechanism is constructed by two slots disposed within the first housing and aligned with each other, a cam track disposed within the second housing, and a cam follower disposed on a cam following slide. The cam following slide is a U-shaped one composed of a pair of parallel arms extending from webs. Each of the arms has a length approximately equal to the distance between end walls of a flange forming a hood in the first housing for receiving the second housing. The cam follower is disposed on the inner surface of each arm.
In accordance with the cam mechanism, the cam following slide must be disposed perpendicular to the fitting direction of the first and second housings. Accordingly, it is necessary to dispose an attaching space sufficiently wider than the length of the slide on one side of the connector, thereby causing problems with respect to the operability when the connectors are fitted and separated from each other in a small space such as a dashboard of a vehicle. Further, the cam following slide is slided by guiding the cam follower by the slot so that it is necessary to dispose two slots aligned with each other on one side so as to prevent the cam following slide from being rotated by the rotation moment. Correspondingly, it is necessary to dispose two tracks on one side so that the inclinations thereof are increased and a relatively large force is needed to fit and separate the connector housings from each other.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,586,771 discloses a structure in which first and second connector housings are fitted and separated from each other by a small force by using a cam mechanism, as in the first prior art. The cam mechanism is constructed by two slots disposed within the first housing and aligned with each other, cam tracks disposed within the second housing, and a cam following slide provided with a cam follower disposed in the first housing.
In this conventional structure, the cam follower for moving the cam tracks is separated from a web to which a force is applied to slide the cam following slide, so that a rotation moment is generated and a relatively large force is needed to fit and separate both housings. Further, in this structure, two cam tracks and two guide slots aligned with each other are disposed to prevent the cam following slide from being rotated by the rotation moment, but the two cam tracks have the same inclination, so that the connectors tend to be fitted to each other in an offset state and rattles tend to be generated.